“Changing the law will give parents the right to sell their young daughters,” Batta said in a telephone interview last month. UNICEF reported in April 2023 that 28% of girls are married before the legal age of 18, although under Iraqi law, girls as young as 15 can be married with the consent of a judge and their parents. As well as setting the age of marriage, it addressed child custody, inheritances and alimony payments focused on the welfare of both children and women. As a result, some lawmakers and rights groups are concerned that this would pave the way for legalizing and expanding child marriage in the country. “Changing the law will lead many underage girls to face circumstances similar to what I went through,” she said.

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Persons: Batta, ” Batta, ‘, Hussein, Hana’a, ”, Ahmad Al, “, ” “, Renad Mansour, ” Mansour, Dunya Al, Shammari, Alya Nassif, ” Nassif, ” Kurdo Omar Organizations: NBC, Protesters, Getty, ”, UNICEF, United Nations Population Fund, Law, Chatham, Getty Images NBC, Al, Forat, Kurdistan Alliance Locations: BAGHDAD, Iraqi, Erbil, Baghdad, Tahrir, AFP, Iraq, Iraq’s, Kurdistan, ”, London, Baghdad's Tahrir